The invention concerns a rudder blade mounting arrangement for a missile, including a rudder blade and a mounting element which is provided for the rudder blade foot of the rudder blade and which has two mutually spaced side portions with mutually facing front faces defining a receiving space for the rudder blade foot, wherein there extends between the side portions through the receiving space a rudder blade axis member for the rudder blade which is displaceable between a retracted inactive position and a deployed active position.
DE 43 35 785 A1 discloses a rudder control device for a projectile comprising a swingingly mounted control motor which, by way of a spindle, drives an entrainment nut by way of which a rudder shaft of the rudder blade is rotatable by way of an entrainment fork. In that known rudder control device, the control motor and the rudder shaft are mounted to a common carrier block which can be mounted in the projectile. The rudder shaft has a receiving means or mounting into which the rudder blade engages in positively locking relationship in the displacement direction. Provided between the rudder shaft and the entrainment fork is a connection which is in positively locking relationship in the displacement direction.
In known rudder blade mounting arrangements for missiles, which involves missiles which can be fired by means of a propellent charge, sensitivity in relation to fouling and contamination as occurs due to combustion residues is often something that cannot be avoided. Such contamination and fouling can affect operational reliability.
In consideration of those factors the object of the present invention is to provide a rudder blade mounting arrangement for a missile, of the kind set forth in the opening part of this specification, wherein sensitivity to fouling and contamination is eliminated and thus excellent operational reliability is guaranteed, that is to say ensuring rapid and reliable opening of the rudders disposed in a combustion chamber of a missile which can be fired by means of propellent charge.
In accordance with the invention, in a rudder blade mounting arrangement of the kind set forth in the opening part of this specification, that object is attained by the features of the characterising portion of claim 1. Preferred embodiments and developments of the rudder blade mounting arrangement according to the invention for a missile are characterised in the appendant claims.
By virtue of the fact that, in accordance with the invention, the axial spacing between the front faces of the two side portions of the mounting element of the rudder blade mounting arrangement is greater than the axial thickness dimension of the rudder blade foot, and by virtue of the fact that the rudder blade axis member is arranged between the two sides portions in axially limitedly movable fashion while being secured against rotation and the rudder blade foot is connected in positively locking relationship to the rudder blade axis member in such a way that in the deployed active position of the rudder blade the rudder blade foot is forced against the front face of the one side portion of the mounting element and in the retracted inactive position spaced by the positively locking connection from that front face and thus the rudder blade foot is axially limitedly movable with the rudder blade axis member relative to the mounting element and the rudder blade is consequently freely displaceable between the retracted inactive position and the deployed active position, that is to say it can be folded out, the arrangement affords excellent operational reliability as, in the event of dimensional alterations caused by temperature and gas pressure in respect of the axial thickness dimension of the rudder blade foot, as a result of the gap width between the two front faces of the side portions of the mounting element, a sufficient motion clearance is maintained at any time between the rudder blade foot and the mounting element so that deployment of the rudder is reliably guaranteed. As a result of the relatively great axial play between the rudder blade foot and the two side portions of the mounting element, this arrangement advantageously ensures that the arrangement is not susceptible to fouling and contamination as occurs due to combustion residues. Further advantages of the rudder blade mounting arrangement according to the invention involve the high positional accuracy of the deployed rudder blade because there is no clearance between the rudder blade and the mounting element in that active position, the inexpensive structure because the rudder blade mounting arrangement according to the invention comprises only a few parts, of simple configuration, involving low levels of tolerance demand, and the reduced level of friction so that, after leaving the muzzle of the bore, the respective rudder blade is deployed quickly and reliably, that is to say it is moved into the deployed, play-free active position. In addition the space required for the rudder blade mounting arrangement according to the invention is small. By virtue of the low tolerance requirements in respect of the parts of the rudder blade mounting arrangement according to the invention, that is to say the tolerance requirements in respect of the mounting element and the associated rudder blade, surface coating of said parts is advantageously not a problem.